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“Take care, Harry,” Lupin said softly

Disclaimer:
No, none of it’s mine.Nothing but
the---well, plot, if you want to call it that….

Disclaimer
II: The song “Boys of Summer” belongs to Don Henley, though I based my fic on
DJ Sammy’s version.

A/N:
And thanks a million times to my beta Elanor Gamgee, who, as SQers would say,
ROX!

After the Boys of Summer

“Take
care, Harry,” Lupin said softly.“Keep
in touch.”

Mrs.
Weasley rushed forward to Harry and squeezed him gently, whispering what seemed
like comforting words into his ear.After she had left with a brief kiss on his cheek, Ron grasped Harry’s
hand and promised, “We’ll see you soon, mate.”

“Real
soon, Harry,” piped up Hermione from behind.She could not get herself to hug or kiss Harry.She was too afraid she would start bawling
her eyes out right there on his shoulder.

Nobody
on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach

Hermione
knew she did not have the right to do that.Harry had just been through yet another year of torture, and she,
Hermione, wanted to cry?No, she had to
be strong, for Harry.Harry, who had no
parents, hardly any friends---and now, nowhere to go after graduating Hogwarts.

Sirius
was dead.

Empty
lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone
I'm drivin' by your house
Though I know you're not home

Harry
nodded at them.Hermione saw that his
eyes were sort of glassy, and knew that even though he could only smile and
wave goodbye to them, the fact that they were all here meant a lot to him.

The
group watched him go.While staring at
the distant black dot of Vernon Dursley’s business car, Hermione was prodded in
the arm.

She
turned to Ron with wet eyes.“I know,”
he said quietly.“It’s not fair.” His
crystalline eyes were etched with sympathy as he looked down in the direction
of the Dursleys’ car.

But I can see you---
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun

You got your hair combed
back and your sunglasses on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

I can see you---
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
I see you walkin' real slow and you're smilin' at everyone
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

“Well, go on, I don’t want to be in the way of your writing another gushy
letter to your boyfriend.”

I thought I knew what love was
What did I know?

Viktor Krum was most definitely not her
boyfriend.Sure, they had gone to the
Yule Ball together, and sure, she still kept in touch with him, but she wrote
letters to Ron, didn’t she?And that
didn’t mean he---

Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go but---

“He
is not my boyfriend,” she
insisted.

“Whatever,”
Ron muttered.He picked up an end of
his trunk and dragged it toward the group, which wasnow
separating.“See you, Hermione.”

Hermione
blinked, and tears that had been threatening to fall during the whole exchange
slipped down her face.Oh jeez, Hermione, get a grip on yourself,
she scolded.They had been through that
conversation innumerable times
before; it was nothing new.But the
fact that Ron hadn’t invited her over for the holidays---that was.Picking up a handle of her own trunk, she
hauled it to where her parents were chatting pleasantly with the Weasleys.Ron was standing awkwardly beside his
mother, tugging on her sleeve as Hermione made her way over.

I can see you---
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that top pulled down and that radio on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

“Ah,
Hermione dear, there you are,” said her mother.“Come now, it’s time to get home.”They bid their farewells to the Weasleys, and Hermione heard an
indistinct grunt of “Bye” from Ron, but said nothing in reply.

As
she and her parents reached their car, her father said cheerfully, “Oh, by the
way, Hermymie,” using the nickname Hermione hated most, “we were talking to
your friends’ parents---wonderful people, really---and we’ve invited the your
friend Ron and his sister Ginny over for a change.We think the Weasleys could do with a little privacy; it seems
they get none in that house of theirs.”Her father winked at her, but Hermione was far from amused.

Stricken,
she turned to the Muggle taxis Mr. Granger had called for the Weasley
household.It was both a relief and a
painful jolt to her heart to see that Ron seemed equally as horrified.She and Ron looked at each other for a
moment, and when Hermione realised it had been more a rather long moment of
staring, she jumped into the backseat of her parents’ car.Then, feeling a little impulsive, she
chanced a glance back at Ron.

I can see you---
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

It
turned out Hermione would not be going to Bulgaria after all.

//

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